Anne Barnard on war crimes by Syrian rebels

"The two abductions contribute to fears that the most violent side of the Syrian insurgency is silencing advocates of the freedom and political rights that were the original demands of those protesting against the Assad government in early 2011 and is playing into the hands of the government, which portrays itself as the only alternative to extremist rule."  So basically, the war crimes are not bad themselves by they are bad for the image of the "revolution" and because they play into the hands of the regime.